Tempora Mutantur monsters, and may interpret other outcomes from the results, such as falling

back or surrender. Combatants get a free attack against a fleeing opponent.

Recovery: PCs who remain above 0 hp recover 1 hp per full turn spent
These are mutant times! (Core Rules)
resting (when exploring a ruin), or all lost hp by resting for a full wilderness
The Fall has long since wiped out civilization, leaving the planet’s surface a movement phase (on the surface). PCs who have been incapacitated recover
savage land of radioactive waste crawling with mutant creatures. Your at the much slower rate of 1 hp per day until fully healed, unless medical
community has endured through the long years since the Fall, its inhabitants treatment (from an Ancient relic or special mutant power) is applied.
sheltered safely beneath the earth. Until now…
Adventuring Feats
Genotype
All feat checks are attempted by rolling 1d20 + AC. Player Characters (and
Characters start out as Humans, but upon exposure to radiation and other classed NPCs) add ½ their rank (rounded down); similarly, most monsters
mutagenic hazards may transform into Near-Humans or even Mutants. add ½ their HD. A result of 20+ indicates success.
Class Might: Swimming, climbing, running, jumping, forcing doors, lifting
Each PC must select a class. Enforcers are athletic and strong at combat. rubble, holding your breath, taming a mutant beast, and so on are all feats of
Scouts are skilled and swift. Thinkers are smart and have a knack with Might. Enforcers gain a +4 bonus.
Ancient relics. (Monsters and most NPCs do not have a class.) Skill: Hiding, sneaking, disabling locks or traps, sleight of hand, bushcraft,
driving a vehicle, detecting hazards in ruins, and finding relics while
Hit Points scavenging are all feats of Skill. Scouts gain a +4 bonus.
Hit points are a combination of toughness, expertise, luck, and other factors. Lore: Deciphering and repairing relics, communicating with mutant tribals,
Enforcers start with 10 hit points and gain +5 hp for each additional rank sensing rad storms and Creep zones, using psionic powers, and the like are
above 1st. Scouts start with 8 hp and gain +4 per rank. Thinkers have 6 hp, all feats of Lore. Thinkers gain a +4 bonus.
+3 per rank. Humans gain +2 bonus hit points, Near-Humans get +1.
(Monsters have Hit Dice and usually, but not always, have 1d8 hp per HD.)
Saving Throws
A saving throw allows a character to avoid a threat or lessen its effect. Saves
Equipment are usually divided into fortitude, reflex, or willpower categories. Roll 1d20
PCs will be provided with standard adventuring supplies (food, water, etc.). + rank (or HD); a result of 20+ indicates a save. Enforcers add +4 to this
In addition, each character may select 4 pieces of equipment. Medium roll, Scouts add +5, and Thinkers add +3.
armour counts as 2 selections. Heavy armour counts as 3 selections. 2 light Humans and Near-Humans gain an additional +1 bonus to saving throws.
weapons may be taken as 1 selection. You may also spend 1 selection for a
Tech Levels
minor relic, which will be randomly determined by the referee.
In the post-Fall world, technology levels vary greatly. Primitive characters
Armour AC Movement Examples / Notes can only comprehend medieval pre-industrial technology. Most PCs are
None 9 12″ – Retro-Tech and understand many mechanical devices, such as motor
Light Armour 7 12″ Cloth, Hide, or Leather. vehicles and firearms. Electronic devices and computers are considered
Medium Armour 5 9″ Chitin, Tire Tread, or Chain. Advanced-Tech, equivalent to the early 21st-century. Understanding the
Heavy Armour 3 6″ Carapace or Plate Metal. secrets of Ancient-Tech is beyond the capability of most survivors.
Shield –1 – Cannot use 2-handed weapon.
Unlike other characters, Thinkers are considered Advanced-Tech. They are
A lower AC makes you harder to hit, but is detrimental in other ways. By also the only class who can attempt to fix damaged or broken relics. Spare
convention, 1″ equals 10 ft at the ruin scale, and is typically 3 miles at the parts and a successful Lore check are required.
wilderness scale. Scouts add +3″ MV if wearing light or no armour. The referee will have more info on tech levels and Ancient relics.
Weapon Damage Note
The Creep
Light Melee 1d6 Fast, concealable, can be thrown for 1d4.
In Tempora Mutantur, the myriad of radionucleotides, toxic chemicals, and
Medium Melee 1d8 ‘Standard’ 1-handed weapon.
nanotech plagues have mingled to the point where – in regard to their impact
Heavy Melee 1d10 Requires 2 hands, slow.
on living beings – they are all thought of as a single threat: the Creep.
Light Ranged 1d4 Fast, concealable, out of ammo on a 1.
Medium Ranged 1d6 Requires 2 hands, out of ammo on a 1 or 2. In addition to suffering damage from the Creep, characters who are exposed
Heavy Ranged 1d8 2-handed, slow, out of ammo on a 1, 2, or 3. will develop mutations with increasing contamination. These mutations are
determined randomly – some are beneficial, but most are detrimental.
Combat A PC who gains one or more mutations but remains (more-or-less) normal is
Surprise: In cases where a group may be caught by surprise at the start of considered a Near-Human. A character who becomes visibly disfigured or
combat, a Skill check must be made (see Adventuring Feats, below). Roll develops more than one major mutation becomes a Mutant and will likely
only once, using the worst value for each side. Success indicates that the be treated as an outcast by his community.
other group is surprised, and loses one combat round. Rules for mutations and their effects are the purview of the referee.
Initiative: Each combatant rolls 1d6 to determine initiative. Fast weapons
Experience
are +1 to initiative, slow weapons are –1. The combatant with the highest
initiative acts first, with others following in descending order. The referee will assign XP for relics recovered, monsters defeated, and
quests completed. All experience earned is divided evenly among surviving
Attack: Roll 1d20 + target’s AC. Enforcers add their rank with heavy or
party members. (NPC henchmen typically receive a ½ share.)
melee weapons, otherwise they add ½ their rank. Scouts add their rank with
light or ranged weapons, otherwise they add ½ their rank. Thinkers add ⅓ Humans (of the normal, un-mutated type) gain a +10% bonus to XP earned.
their rank with light weapons, and also add ½ their rank with Advanced or Starting PCs begin at 1st rank with 0 XP. A PC then requires an additional
Ancient relics (these bonuses can stack). Monsters add their HD. 1,000 XP multiplied by his current rank to advance to each new rank; i.e., a
Damage: On a hit, roll damage dice and subtract the result from hit points. total of 1,000 XP to reach 2nd rank, 3,000 XP to reach 3rd rank, 6,000 XP to
At 0 hp monsters are slain. A PC or important NPC is incapacitated at 0 hp, reach 4th rank, 10,000 XP to reach 5th rank, and so on.
but will survive until he reaches a negative hit point total greater than his A character must return to his home base for training, or be trained by a
rank. Incapacitated PCs are either left for dead or captured. higher-rank PC of the same class, before gaining the benefits of a new rank.
Death’s Door: A fortitude save vs. death (see Saving Throws, below) is The Character Sheet
permitted to survive an effect that would otherwise cause a PC’s demise. If Invent a name, an appellation, a one-line description, and your character is
successful, the character is reduced to minimum hit points and incapacitated. ready to explore the wastes! For example:
Morale: In battle, NPCs and monsters are subject to morale. Both sides roll Stassen the Blunt. Human Enforcer 1, 12 hp, AC 3 (scrap metal plate),
1d20 and add the rank (or HD) of their greatest combatant. If either side is MV 6″, SV +6, metal I-beam (hvy melee Atk +1, 1d10). (XP 0, +10%.)
doubled they will flee. The referee may roll separately for distinct groups of Stassen is simple, both in thought and action.
Tempora Mutantur written by K-Slacker, inspired by Searchers of the Unknown by Nicolas Dessaux and SotU Refired by Simon J. Bull. Visit http://mutantur.wordpress.com/.
No challenge or claim to the ownership of any trademarks is intended or implied. This is a not-for-profit fan work, believed to reside within Fair Use.